I have this magic wand, and please no sexual jokes, this is serious. I got it a long time ago, when I was very little. It's hard plastic, filled with this goopy pink sparkly concotion. It also has sparkly stars and moons in it, and when you shake it around the stuff runs from one end to the other. It came out when 'Where's Waldo' was a big thing, and supposedly had a little Waldo piece in it. Well over the time I've have it I've searched and searched and searched but never found Waldo. I finally came to the conclusion that there was not, in fact, a Waldo, but hey, it still made an awesome magic wand prop.
When I started teaching my Mini-Imagination classes, I brought the wand with me. It seemed the sort of thing that would appeal to 3-5 year olds. At the beginning of each class we would sit in a circle and pass the wand about, and each kid would get to answer a question about their day, or their favourite fill-in-the-blank. Whoever had the wand was the only one who got to talk. They really enjoyed it.
Today I taught the class from hell. I'm serious, it was the most horrendous class I have ever taught. I blame Halloween. They wouldn't listen, they wouldn't cooperate, they kept pushing eachother. Made me want to scream at them. Instead, every five minutes I had to sit them all down against the wall and lecture them on how we were suppose to behave in class, and how we listen to our teacher and all that. I hated every moment of it. That's not what those classes are suppose to be about. But as time always passes, the 45minutes were finally over, and I asked the parents to come in for a moment so I could let them know about next week's project. ((Editor's Note: Star and/or Eric, remind me to tell you about this at some point.)) While I was talking, K (a little female hellion) snuck over to my bag and grabbed the magic wand out of it. She started running around the room, waving it, and I figured I would just let her so as to get the talking done as soon as possible.
But then... then she threw the wand across the room and it hit the floor with a sickening shatter. Sparkles, pink goop and plastic shards went everywhere. I couldn't believe it. The wand that I had had for so many years, that had seen so much, that had played in every game possible, that had been the bit to finish many a costume, was gone. Shattered across the floor.
I didn't cry, I didn't yell, I just picked up the pieces carefully, and wiped up the mess. As I left, I looked into the garbage can one last time. I felt my eyes water as I stared at the remnants of childhood memories, thrown away. Tonight, they'll empty that can into the dumpster, and in a few days a garbage truck will come and take it away. And my childhood will go to the dump to decompose, to be forgotten.
You wouldn't think that something this little would make me break down, but.... I wasn't ready to throw away my childhood just yet. And there are some things that are too old to be replaced. Those kinds of toys just aren't made anymore. They aren't what kids these days want. They're too simple.
It feels silly to cry over something like this, but I can't help it. I just watched a piece of my childhood be shattered and thrown away. And there was nothing I could do to stop it.
Sparkles, pink goop, and plastic shards everywhere. Shattered across the floor. I guess I'll never really know whether there was a Waldo or not.
When I started teaching my Mini-Imagination classes, I brought the wand with me. It seemed the sort of thing that would appeal to 3-5 year olds. At the beginning of each class we would sit in a circle and pass the wand about, and each kid would get to answer a question about their day, or their favourite fill-in-the-blank. Whoever had the wand was the only one who got to talk. They really enjoyed it.
Today I taught the class from hell. I'm serious, it was the most horrendous class I have ever taught. I blame Halloween. They wouldn't listen, they wouldn't cooperate, they kept pushing eachother. Made me want to scream at them. Instead, every five minutes I had to sit them all down against the wall and lecture them on how we were suppose to behave in class, and how we listen to our teacher and all that. I hated every moment of it. That's not what those classes are suppose to be about. But as time always passes, the 45minutes were finally over, and I asked the parents to come in for a moment so I could let them know about next week's project. ((Editor's Note: Star and/or Eric, remind me to tell you about this at some point.)) While I was talking, K (a little female hellion) snuck over to my bag and grabbed the magic wand out of it. She started running around the room, waving it, and I figured I would just let her so as to get the talking done as soon as possible.
But then... then she threw the wand across the room and it hit the floor with a sickening shatter. Sparkles, pink goop and plastic shards went everywhere. I couldn't believe it. The wand that I had had for so many years, that had seen so much, that had played in every game possible, that had been the bit to finish many a costume, was gone. Shattered across the floor.
I didn't cry, I didn't yell, I just picked up the pieces carefully, and wiped up the mess. As I left, I looked into the garbage can one last time. I felt my eyes water as I stared at the remnants of childhood memories, thrown away. Tonight, they'll empty that can into the dumpster, and in a few days a garbage truck will come and take it away. And my childhood will go to the dump to decompose, to be forgotten.
You wouldn't think that something this little would make me break down, but.... I wasn't ready to throw away my childhood just yet. And there are some things that are too old to be replaced. Those kinds of toys just aren't made anymore. They aren't what kids these days want. They're too simple.
It feels silly to cry over something like this, but I can't help it. I just watched a piece of my childhood be shattered and thrown away. And there was nothing I could do to stop it.
Sparkles, pink goop, and plastic shards everywhere. Shattered across the floor. I guess I'll never really know whether there was a Waldo or not.
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